Game Preview: NY Islanders at Winnipeg Jets

The NY Islanders kick off a two-game Western road trip, first visiting the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 3:30 PM.

Last Game

The Islanders welcomed the Los Angeles Kings to UBS Arena on Friday as they looked to build more momentum on a two-gamme winning streak. A scoreless first period between the Islanders and Kings turned sour in the second for New York as Los Angelas scored three straight goals in 5:34 span on the sticks of Phillip Danault, Arthur Kaliyev, and Gabriel Vilardi. Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson cut the Kings momentum on a late second period goal on the power play. Adam Pelech scored late in the third as the Islanders attempted to mount a comeback, however, fell short with just 18 shots on net after three periods. Ilya Sorokin, as one might expect, played well stopping 26 out of 28 shots, totaling a .929 SV%. Jonathan Quick made 16 saves on 18 shots.

The Jets were bounced by the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 on Saturday. Nathan Mackinnon registered a multi-point night (one goal and one assist), leading the charge as he opened the scoring for the Avs. Including Mackinnon, the Avalanche had five different goal scorers in Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Compher, Bowen Byram, and Matt Nieto. Mason Appleton scored the Jets' lone goal in the first period answering Mackinnon's opening tally. Connor Helleybuck started the game but was pulled during the second intermission after allowing five goals. David Rittich made 10/10 saves in the final 20 minutes. Alexander Georgiev turned in a 26-save performance.

Historical Matchup

The Islanders and the Jets met last week for the first time this season in their Wednesday night matchup. The Islanders took a first period lead at the hands of Sebastian Aho. Nikolaj Ehlers tied things up in the second period, and Simon Holmstrom's third period heroics sent the Jets packing back to Winnipeg. Sorokin turned in an excellent 25-save performance to keep the Jets at bay.

The Islanders are 40-22-4 all-time against the Jets.

Players to Watch

It's hard not to utter Brock Nelson's name anymore in "player to watch" situations. Even before the injury to Mathew Barzal, the Islanders 2023 All-Star forward had been on a 12 game scoring streak and has collected 20 points (11 goals and nine assists) over his last 16 games.

Kyle Connor leads the Jets in scoring with 66 points (26 goals, 40 assists) in 59 games. He's scored five points (two goals and three assists) in his last five games.

Projected Lines 

Islanders

Anders Lee-Bo Horvat-Matt Martin
Zach Parise-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Arnaud Durandeau-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching
Ross Johnston-Otto Koivula-Simon Holmstrom

Adam Pelech-Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov-Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

Jets

Kyle Connor-Mark Scheifele-Mason Appleton
Nikolaj Ehlers-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Blake Wheeler
Morgan Barron-Adam Lowry-Sam Gagner
Saku Maenalanen-Kevin Stenlund-Karson Kuhlman

Josh Morrissey-Dylan DeMelo
Brenden Dillon-Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley-Nate Schmidt

Connor Hellebuyck
David Rittich

*Lines via Daily Faceoff